Wodehouse is sublime. The Master was the best comic writer of all time. I defy anyone to read "Joy in the Morning" and not be unmoved.

Louis

I think you meant to say 'not be moved'?

Oh dear, did I make a balls up?

Genitals first, no doubt. †

--------------"Rich is just mad because he thought all titties had fur on them until last week when a shorn transvestite ruined his childhood dreams by jumping out of a spider man cake and man boobing him in the face lips." - Erasmus

Ian - Could you do the world a favor and send that to Bush and Cheney when you're done reading it?

They will me utterly amazed that you can actually plan to win a war! Say what you will about the Krauts, but I think they knew how to win, except that Hitler kept second-guessing his professionals and going with his gut reactions... Sound familiar? Yep, it's The ID of WWII.

--------------Come on Tough Guy, do the little dance of ID impotence you do so well. - Louis to Joe G 2/10

Gullibility is not a virtue - Quidam on Dembski's belief in the Bible Code Faith Healers & ID 7/08

Ian - Could you do the world a favor and send that to Bush and Cheney when you're done reading it?

They will me utterly amazed that you can actually plan to win a war! Say what you will about the Krauts, but I think they knew how to win, except that Hitler kept second-guessing his professionals and going with his gut reactions... Sound familiar? Yep, it's The ID of WWII.

It's a tad outdated, but hey, even Sun Tzu would do better. (I have that to read as well).

--------------I'm not the fastest or the baddest or the fatest.

You NEVER seem to address the fact that the grand majority of people supporting Darwinism in these on line forums and blogs are atheists. That doesn't seem to bother you guys in the least. - FtK

Yeah, I read it and liked it a lot. Botany of Desire was better, IMHO, but both of them were excellent reading!

--------------Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mindHas been obligated from the beginningTo create an ordered universeAs the only possible proof of its own inheritance. † † † † † † † † † † † † - Pattiann Rogers

I read the NYT Dining In/Out section every Wednesday. (Richardthughes: OF COURSE YOU DO, HOMO (Richard, I miss the tardologues. You were riding that joke into the ground, but it was still sometimes funny)) And I think last year sometime was an article about a very avant garde restaurant whose dishes were based upon offal. Those bones pics reminds me that one such dish was bone marrow. The leg bones were sawn up, the pieces were grilled or something, and at the table you were supposed to scoop out the marrow and spread it on I believe bread.

I read the NYT Dining In/Out section every Wednesday. (Richardthughes: OF COURSE YOU DO, HOMO (Richard, I miss the tardologues. You were riding that joke into the ground, but it was still sometimes funny)) And I think last year sometime was an article about a very avant garde restaurant whose dishes were based upon offal. Those bones pics reminds me that one such dish was bone marrow. The leg bones were sawn up, the pieces were grilled or something, and at the table you were supposed to scoop out the marrow and spread it on I believe bread.

That is actually a pretty classic dish. I've had marrow a number of times and it is quite good.

It's usually one of those "Chefs only order it" dishes, but trust me it's really good.

Given my horrible diet, "not something you should eat everyday" mentally translates in my head to "something you should eat everyday, and additionally wash down with whiskey, because nobody really wants to be 70"

Given my horrible diet, "not something you should eat everyday" mentally translates in my head to "something you should eat everyday, and additionally wash down with whiskey, because nobody really wants to be 70"

You and I need to have a few drinks sometime. I think you just detailed my life philosophy.

I'm fairly immobile. I seldom leave Chapel Hill, NC. If you make it here, though, I'm up for it. I'm planning a Decemberfest on the anniversary of Judge Jones's decision, but I'm also open to plenty of preliminary boozing. We should call Reed and Bora, they live around here. And Lou FCD needs to get his ass up here. (and if anyone else lives in the area, you're welcome too)

I'm fairly immobile. I seldom leave Chapel Hill, NC. If you make it here, though, I'm up for it. I'm planning a Decemberfest on the anniversary of Judge Jones's decision, but I'm also open to plenty of preliminary boozing. We should call Reed and Bora, they live around here. And Lou FCD needs to get his ass up here. (and if anyone else lives in the area, you're welcome too)

Ahh. Well I'm in Charleston and my brother lives in Raleigh. I've briefly met Reed and Bora at a tribute for my grandfather at NC State where Ken Miller spoke. I make it up there occasionally. Next time I'm up there I'll definitely let you know.

Given my horrible diet, "not something you should eat everyday" mentally translates in my head to "something you should eat everyday, and additionally wash down with whiskey, because nobody really wants to be 70"

Ah, but will you still feel that way when you're 50?

--------------"Rich is just mad because he thought all titties had fur on them until last week when a shorn transvestite ruined his childhood dreams by jumping out of a spider man cake and man boobing him in the face lips." - Erasmus

Given my horrible diet, "not something you should eat everyday" mentally translates in my head to "something you should eat everyday, and additionally wash down with whiskey, because nobody really wants to be 70"

Ah, but will you still feel that way when you're 50?

Who says we'll get to 50?

No I want t live a long life but I also get a high level of life enjoyment out of experiencing the massive variety of food and beverage styles in the world. If I sacrifice a few years.. well. Shit. That's how it goes. I can't imagine life without trying what you have access to and want to try, be it food or other things.

No I want t live a long life but I also get a high level of life enjoyment out of experiencing the massive variety of food and beverage styles in the world. If I sacrifice a few years.. well. Shit. That's how it goes. I can't imagine life without trying what you have access to and want to try, be it food or other things.

Amen, brother. Who wants to be 100 years old, drooling in your oatmeal and pooping in your Depends?

The thing that annoys me is the calorie restriction stuff, mainly because I like the "better to live a moment as a lion than a lifetime as a mouse" philosophy a little too much! ;-) But you've got to admit he has a point.

Seems to me that capacity for pleasure and hedonism is intimately connected to one's health - very ill and chronically debilitated persons often can't derive much pleasure from the basics (eating, sex, conversation, risk taking, substances, art, etc.) regardless of extremes; fit and healthy persons can derive the full amplitude of pleasure associated with those activities even with moderate and subtle inputs. So the most hedonistic course is to observe measures (which typically entail moderation) that lengthen one's health span, rather than full-bore indulgence. In short, care for the instrument.

--------------Myth: Something that never was true, and always will be.

"The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you."- David Foster Wallace

"Here‚Äôs a clue. Snarky banalities are not a substitute for saying something intelligent. Write that down."- Barry Arrington

Very much in that vein, I remember (vaguely) a line from Pratchett's "Moving Pictures" in which one of the chief protagonists is described as a very lazy person, so lazy in fact that he couldn't be bothered to haul a hugly fat carcass about so he took regular exercise and ate sensibly, and this had a toned physique and muscles that could crack walnuts etc. Made sense to me....at least in theory! ;-)

Given my horrible diet, "not something you should eat everyday" mentally translates in my head to "something you should eat everyday, and additionally wash down with whiskey, because nobody really wants to be 70"

Ah, but will you still feel that way when you're 50?

Who says we'll get to 50?

Trust me, LOTS of people make it to 50 without ever dreaming they would.

I don't feel like keeling over from smoking or heart disease at 49 (having a young daughter is a big part of that), but at the same time I'm not willing to spend my whole life jogging 2 hours every morning and eating nothing but bland low-fat high-fiber vegetarian food. (What's the point of a long life, if it's filled with that?) Fortunately I've never smoked, but I do love me some fried food. So you compromise. I try and keep the fats lowish and take meds for cholesterol and blood pressure (hereditary high BP -- thanks, dad!), but I don't jog or work out, either. So what'll that buy me? 77? Cool.

I've known a couple people in academia who made it into their 90's still sharp and still productive (I certainly have enough projects to last me another 50 years) but it is incredibly rare. (For every one of them I can name, I can name ten people who keeled over at 81 after 12 years of idleness and shitty health.) My personal opinion is that making it to 100 with all your marbles is so totally a matter of genetic luck that it's ridiculous to deliberately try to make it happen.

--------------"Rich is just mad because he thought all titties had fur on them until last week when a shorn transvestite ruined his childhood dreams by jumping out of a spider man cake and man boobing him in the face lips." - Erasmus

Given my horrible diet, "not something you should eat everyday" mentally translates in my head to "something you should eat everyday, and additionally wash down with whiskey, because nobody really wants to be 70"

Ah, but will you still feel that way when you're 50?

Who says we'll get to 50?

Trust me, LOTS of people make it to 50 without ever dreaming they would.

I don't feel like keeling over from smoking or heart disease at 49 (having a young daughter is a big part of that), but at the same time I'm not willing to spend my whole life jogging 2 hours every morning and eating nothing but bland low-fat high-fiber vegetarian food. (What's the point of a long life, if it's filled with that?) Fortunately I've never smoked, but I do love me some fried food. So you compromise. I try and keep the fats lowish and take meds for cholesterol and blood pressure (hereditary high BP -- thanks, dad!), but I don't jog or work out, either. So what'll that buy me? 77? Cool.

I've known a couple people in academia who made it into their 90's still sharp and still productive (I certainly have enough projects to last me another 50 years) but it is incredibly rare. (For every one of them I can name, I can name ten people who keeled over at 81 after 12 years of idleness and shitty health.) My personal opinion that making it to 100 with all your marbles is so totally a matter of genetic luck that it's ridiculous to deliberately try to make it happen.

Yeah I know I was half kidding. My grandfather made it to almost 90 with all his faculties working at the same level they always did (although a hair slower). Living long and being healthy is a goal, however, liek yuo said I'd like to enjoy the ride.

I've known a couple people in academia who made it into their 90's still sharp and still productive (I certainly have enough projects to last me another 50 years) but it is incredibly rare.

The general rule vis aging is "use it or loose it." Very likely remaining productive into advanced years contributed to their longevity. †Becoming cognitively and physically inactive at 69 invites the reaper.

--------------Myth: Something that never was true, and always will be.

"The truth will set you free. But not until it is finished with you."- David Foster Wallace

"Here‚Äôs a clue. Snarky banalities are not a substitute for saying something intelligent. Write that down."- Barry Arrington

Last night I read "Evolution Exposed," a stinking pile of crap smeared on paper by Paul G. Humber. It was disgusting.

I had to read it as part of the longish response to Weikart that I am working on sporadically. Humber likes to email people and then use their replies as "gotchas." He goes on for some while about Lenny without ever mentioning him by name.

I realized that he had sent me several emails years ago. I told him that I didn't respond to individual emails about E/c, (I don't), and that he should post these to the TO newsgroup where I would reply.

All for the same critical review of Weikart. These will only be a tiny observation that the creationist lies about Darwin+Hitler are not original, that they have been essentially unmodified for over 30 years, that Weikart is well known to creationists as a fellow believer (notable in Humber of course), and that Weikart has nothing new to offer.

PS: If I live another 8 months I'll set an all family male longevity record. I cannot understand why I waste so much time reading creationist crap. Oh Well.

Edited by Dr.GH on July 15 2007,14:04

--------------"Science is the horse that pulls the cart of philosophy."